Events Leading up to the
American Revolution
What initially caused discontent
among the colonies toward
• Great Britain had been
fighting costly wars
with the French and
Indians in North
America since the
1680s.
• The French and Indian
War (a.k.a. Seven Years
War) lasted from 1756
until 1763.
• When Great Britain won
the war, they taxed the
colonies to pay off
their war debt.
King George
Why did new taxes make the
colonists so upset?
• In the first half of the 1700s, Britain
had basically left the colonies alone.
This was called salutary neglect.
• The colonists were able to govern
themselves with their own assemblies
that made laws and raised taxes.
• The few taxes that were implemented
were not enforced.
What were the new taxes levied
by the British?
• Sugar Act (1764)
– Imposed a tax on
molasses of 3 pence
per gallon and
strictly enforced it.
– This limited the
colonial economy by
producing a sharp
decline in the rum
industry.
Lord Grenville
(Treasurer)
• Stamp Act (1765)
– Taxed any paper
product (i.e. cards,
letters, and
newspapers) and
required that all
legal documents and
printed materials
have a paper stamp
(only available
through the
government).
The infamous stamps
• Quartering Act (1765)
– Required colonists to house and feed
British soldiers in their own homes.
• Townshend Acts (1765)
– Required colonists to pay import duties
on tea, glass, lead, oil, and paper.
• Intolerable/Coercive Acts (1774)
– Closed the Port of Boston
– Increased Royal Governor’s powers
– Reemphasized policy of quartering
How did the colonists respond
to these taxes?
• They boycotted (or refused to buy) British
products.
They threw a tea party in the
Boston Harbor!
One artist’s portrayal of the first in a long line of Boston Harbor
polluters.
They tarred and feathered tax collectors!
They formed the Stamp Act
Congress!
•Representatives from each colony met in
Philadelphia and determined that the British
Parliament did NOT have the right to tax the
colonies because the colonies were not
represented in Parliament.
•“NO TAXATION WITHOUT
REPRESENTATION.”
They formed groups!
• The “Sons of
Liberty” were one
example of a group
that many colonists
joined to express
their uniquely
American identity.
They held two Continental
Congresses!
• These took place in
Philadelphia in 1774
and 1775.
• First: Delegates worked
to define their
grievances and define a
plan for resistance.
• Second: The Congress
organized the colonies
for war and established
an army to fight the
British.
They thought subversive
thoughts!
• Thomas Paine’s
work, Common
Sense, which
discussed the
conflict between
Britain and the
colonies and
attacked the idea of
government by
kings and
aristocrats, was our
nation’s first
bestseller.
They declared their
independence!
• The Declaration of
Independence,
penned by Thomas
Jefferson, was
approved on July
4th, 1776, formally
marking our
independence as a
nation.
“Give [us] liberty, or give [us]
death!”
Pre-Revolutionary Political
Cartooons
Instructions: Please examine each of the
following cartoons, read the relevant
information, and answer the questions
in order to determine the message of
each cartoon. When you are finished,
please create your own political
cartoon expressing discontent over
one of the pieces of legislation you
just learned about.